so its almost the end of the semester, but at the same time the new beginning of travel through India. i came here with a few expectations, some were not met some were vastly exceeded and all in all ive absorbed so much inspiration and information. The tree I created before I came to Auroville outlines my expectations for myself, my classes and Auroville as a whole.

As my roots that sink into my past, I have my family as my strongest lineage to my evolution. My parents have influenced my love of travel and awareness of nature around me as well as bringing me to express outward compassion through trips to soup kitchens and animal shelters. My grandparents, my aunt judy, and my cousin Jenny have also been inspiring parts of my growth. Judaism and the part that Midrasha, ties to the local rabbi, and jewish tradition have had in my upbringing have shaped my religious and spiritual views, especially questioning the truth. Animals have also had a big part of my relationship to the natural world. Horseback riding has led to close ties with other species, sparking an interest in animal activism and in turn limiting my consumption of animals. This animal activism has sparked my environmental activism through Clean Water Action and Social activism through Americorps.

my goals before arriving in Auroville were to learn a hidden talent, be inspired by experiences, immerse myself in new culture; to zoom out of current viewpoint to experience new perspective, to practice yoga and meditation on a regular basis, learn more tamil, and to just be me.

my fears were dis-ease, losing things, and feeding into the stereotypes that people have been drilling into my head of fear for people being intrinsicly evil.

my expectations were good food, good music, good conversation, beautiful people, lots of color-good pictures, celebrations of life, and spiritual centers of beauty.

the trunk of myself: Practice selflessness of self love. invest myself in compassion of creativity. i believe in manifesting my own reality and have realized the potential I have to access the intrinsic wisdom encased within my idea of self and have recognized intrinsic wisdom emerging in the world. I have gratitude for the here and now and love for the reflections of myself around me.

This was my outlook before stepping onto the red earth of the Indian subcontinent that I have grown to feel so at home in.